textproduct: Amarillo

KEY MESSAGES

Issued at 853 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026

- High pressure brings well above normal temperatures across the panhandles for the rest of the week. Near to record high temperatures can occur on both Friday and Saturday.

- A dry weather system has a high chance of bringing somewhat cooler weather starting on Sunday.

SHORT TERM

(Tonight through Friday night) Issued at 853 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026

A high pressure system remains dominant across the southern plains including the panhandles through Friday. This will continue the stretch of dry and hot weather conditions for the panhandles. Highs will reach the upper 80s and breach into the 90s across the panhandles for today and be almost all 90s for Friday. Such heat is near or even at record high levels for march. This heat will be all the more oppressive as there will be little in the way of winds or clouds to provide cooling. Even without the winds patchy elevated fire weather conditions can occur just due to how dry it will be now through Friday.

LONG TERM

(Saturday through next Wednesday) Issued at 853 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026

There is a very high chance for the high pressure to remain across the southern plains on Saturday. This will continue the hot and dry conditions across the panhandles. Since the heat has been building through the week Saturday is most likely going to be the hottest day of this heat wave. This will see temperatures in the 90s with a few spots even reaching into the 100s. Still there will be a little change as a weather system begins interacting with the high pressure. This will most likely lead to breezy winds returning to the panhandles on Saturday. If this comes to pass then fire weather will be a concern as conditions will still be very dry.

Come next week there is a high chance for the weather system to flatten and push away the high pressure from the southern plains. This weather system seems likely to pass a cold front across the panhandles during Sunday. This will finally break the heat wave that has been gripping the panhandles for much of the previous week. Even then the cooler temperatures provided by this system will still be warmer than normal. This should be the only relief this system provides as there is really no hints of moisture for the panhandles.

The brief cooldown in the temperatures has an increasing confidence to be brief as the high pressure is becoming more likely to build back across the southern plains. This would cause the temperatures to heat right back up going into the middle portions of next week. No moisture looks to arrive in the southern plains so the chances for dry weather remain high.

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 616 AM CDT Thu Mar 19 2026

VFR conditions are expected to prevail with relatively light winds changing from westerly to northerly through the period.

AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

TX...None. OK...None.